Sensibility Design
Dongha Kim and Prasad Boradkar
Arizona State University
Introduction
The accelerated development of innovative forms, unusual material applications, new
technical means and processes, and globalization in the second half of the 20th century have
heavily influenced manufactured products. Since the 1960s, it has been observed that
corporations and designers have focused on creating user-friendly products leading to,
among other things, softer organic forms and more vivid colors. Though designers have
stressed the importance of satisfying the psychological and physical needs of the user, few
studies have traced the origin and development of this tendency. Designers worldwide have
adopted various approaches in order to appeal emotionally to users and to infiltrate a
competitive marketplace. This tendency is essentially driven by a combination of the
rationality of functional design and the sensibility of user-centered design. We would like to
label this “Sensibility—Design.” This paper is an attempt to outline its basic tenets,
formulate its theoretical underpinning, and illustrate its manifestation through specific
examples in the context of the history of industrial design. Sensibility refers to complex
feelings such as amenity, pleasantness, comfort, pleasure, and so forth, which are often
experienced in the use of objects. Sensibility—Design can be characterized as a specific
design approach, which generates products that stimulate the human mind and the senses
through visual, audible, and tactile factors. This design attitude blends human emotion with
high technology and is often seen in the products from companies such as Alessi, Sony Co.,
Thomson multimedia, Philips Co., and designers like Philippe Starck, Michael Graves,
Emilio Ambasz, etc. It is obvious that the tendency has evolved from a branch of Pluralism,
but derives its essential ideological premise from Modernism.
The Birth and Growth of Sensibility Design
As Modernism set out to escape classicism, Postmodernism set out to liberate humanism by
embracing pluralism. From the 1960s to the 1970s, a new sensitivity began to appear with
Anti-Modernism and Postmodernism in design. However, Postmodern design failed to give
a desirable direction for industrial design because it seemed to suggest a short-lived
superficial imagery rather than an intrinsic solution to design problems, and it was not only a
complex process, but also dependent on subjective and artistic tendencies. For example, the
design group Memphis, which rejected mainstream Modernism in furniture design, tended to
be subjective rather than objective, craft-oriented rather than industrial, conceptual rather
than realistic, and artistic and new elitist rather than commercial. Postmodern design was not
intended to be a straightforward solution to functional problems in industrial design, but it
influenced design in establishing metaphorical, witty, and symbolic characteristics. In this
sense, the style in industrial design of the 1980s could be titled Sensibility—Design rather
than other ‘isms’ like Postmodernism in industrial design, if such products not only stimulate
a user’s mind or help fulfill a consumer’s needs, but also maintain their technological and
functional nature.
In the 1990s, it was obvious that emerging technologies and new materials provided new
possibilities and potential for designers to develop, enrich, and enforce their dreams and
ideas. Manzini (Diani 1988: 8) argues, “high technology products will continue to have a
surface, a skin, which will continue to be charged with emotional and symbolic tensions”
That is, a new approach to industrial design is inevitably coming into existence, fueled by
emerging technologies, new materials, computer-aided design, etc., which allows designers to
create almost any form and to add a dimension of sensibility. Sensibility—Design is a new
language of design that blends the advantages of an industrial society with the human senses.
The term Sensibility—Design could be the proper expression for industrial design as the
many products based on high-technology and high-quality generate within consumers such
sensibilities as comfort, richness, satisfaction, pleasantness, etc.
Sense and Sensibility
The senses of vision, hearing, smell, touch, and taste are the ways of orienting the perceptual
apparatus of the body (Gibson, 1966). The senses evoke a wide range of sensations, which
are transformed into perception simultaneously. Perception provides feedback for the
steering of behavior (Gibson, 1966). Finally, sensation and perception generate the capacity
of emotional, rational, ethical, artistic, literal, social, and cultural understanding, called
‘sensibility.’ Therefore, the senses exist as important factors in Sensibility—Design.
Figure 1: The Process of Generation of Sensibility
Sensibility—Design pays attention to commercial and technological factors such as
consumer-led-design and the constraints of mass-production. The former leads to more
customized, short-run, multipurpose, adaptable, and applicable product design. The latter
provides new attitudes and lifestyles through proposed new functions made available by
technology. Therefore, Sensibility—Design focuses on consumers’ senses through new
technologies, new materials, and new techniques. However, not every such design falls under
Sensibility—Design. Those products that can be identified as examples of Sensibility—
Design can be distinguished from other products through an analysis of their forms,
functions, colors and materials. Sensibility—Design imparts forms emotional elements such
as richness, pleasantness, intelligence, comfort, elegance, etc., offering users other means of
interaction with objects. “Design is communication” (Starck, 1995: 9). Every object, through
its appearance, informs us of what it is, and through its function advises us about what it can
do. For something to qualify as ‘Sensibility—Design,’ it must have the capacity to carry and
transmit meaning and sensibility to consumers.
Units of Analysis
The objects in these case studies of current products are divided into four categories based
upon the units of analysis function, form, color, and material. Through specific
characteristics such as physical, psychological, organic, geometric, etc., and via the channels
of the senses of vision, hearing and taste various sensibilities namely nostalgia, pleasantness,
satisfaction, etc. can be generated. Figure 2 is a graphic representation of this process of
generation of sensibility.
Figure 2: Units of Analysis
Sensibility and Function
Function can be physical and psychological; modernists used function as the maximization
of machine efficiency, and postmodernists emphasized visual function. Function can be
visible or invisible. Designers have translated function into emotion and sensibility by
appealing to the human senses. For example, the Juicy Salif (Figure 3a), a citrus juicer,
presents itself as a kitchen utensil that is convenient to use. The form of its main body
possesses a downward directionality opposed in its spidery legs, which spells out its method
of use. Philippe Starck argues that the role of the designer is to create more happiness with
less (Charlotte & Fiell, 1999: 666). He believes that designers should not redesign that which
functions well (Charlotte & Fiell, 2001: 479). In the case of the adhesive tape dispenser
(Figure 3b), the form delivers function as semiotic potential and presents itself in an
idiosyncratic zoomorphic form (Morrison, 1999). Bulges on the back and seat of the cushion
evoke comfort in this wheelchair (Figure 3c) designed for amenity and convenience. Usually,
a digital camera makes no sound, as there is no physical movement of a shutter; however,
the Sony digital camcorder/camera (Figure 3d) mimics the shutter-sound of an analog
camera. The physical sound of this digital camera makes its function visible thereby
satisfying the user through feedback. Sensibility—Design, as seen in this example, generates
psychological effects through physical devices and transforms the nature of function. These
examples show that design makes function visible conveying information to users so that it
is easy and enjoyable to recognize and use.
a. Philippe Starck, Lemon squeezer, Juicy Salif by Alessi, Italy, 1990
b. Julian Brown, Adhesive Tape Dispenser, Hannibal by Rexite, Italy, 1999
c. Kachuo Kawasaki, Wheelchair, Carna, Japan 1989
d. Camcorder, DCR-TRV20 by Sony Design Center, 2000
Figure 3: Sensibility and Function
Sensibility and Form
Being one of the most poetic and rhetorical factors in design, form is seen in countless
variations in design, ranging from cubist simplicity to metaphorical ambiguity. In
Sensibility—Design, form plays the role of an informative yet seductive messenger,
attracting consumers through devices such as metaphor, historical referencing, humor,
novelty, etc., offering a unique sensibility that is perceived primarily through vision.
Though a marked increase in the use of bulbous, soft forms has been observed in design,
there is a definite distinction between the organic forms of the past and the organic forms
employed by Sensibility—Design. During the streamlining era of the 1930s and 40s, a
monumental and sculptural style that expressed the efficiency of aerodynamics was
indiscriminately applied from airplanes to everyday objects. As a post-War alternative in the
1950s and 60s, organic design was widely adapted in Europe to counter the pre-War idealism
of Fascism (Massey, 1990). Sensibility—Design includes both organic and geometric forms.
It recognizes geometry as a basic element in design that can deliver powerful formal
messages, but also softens it with the sweeping curves that are more human. The composite
of geometric cylinders and hemispheres of the Sony stereo speaker system SRS-N100
(Figure 4a) defies the stereotypical speaker box and makes light of this technological object
with an insect-like form. In that sense, the PowerBug, a power extension (Figure 4b), is
composed of a very simple spherical body and non-geometrical legs. According to the
Toshiba Design Center, form should not only bring a sense of aesthetic fulfillment to the
users, but should also consider function (Sapper, 1999). People habitually envision the
television set as a cubical plastic box, and it may not be associated with anything more than a
device for watching programming. This television set by Philips (Figure 4d) is no more an
idiot box but an open book that provides information, formally making it an object that
might be enjoyed even when not turned ‘on.’ Like Volkswagen’s New Beetle, Chrysler’s PT
Cruiser (Figure 4c) represents a stylish and amusing reference to the full-fendered cars of the
late 1930s. The rebirth of the automobiles of the past is not derived from superficial imagery
but is instead a conscious effort to appease people’s desires. This is done through a
humanized combination of nostalgia and high technology that dissolves into a new
sensibility.
a. Speaker System, SRS-N100 by Sony Design Center, 1995
b. Sean Weatherill, Power Extension, Power Bug by Great Stuff, Inc., USA, 2000
c. Automobile, PT Cruiser by Chrysler, USA, 2000
e. D. Thackray & D. Hartman, TV, Your TV by Philips, Netherlands, 1992
Figure 4: Sensibility and Form
Sensibility and Color
Color is one of the most significant stimuli delivered from the outside physical world. The
colors we use or are surrounded by can often be a gauge of profession, age, sex, social
position, standard of education and so on. In design, specific characteristics of objects are
expressed through sensitive use of color. Sensibility—Design does not follow a prescribed
palette, but displays a plurality in which primary colors, complementary colors and
transparency appear.
The set of chairs and a table (Figure 5a) shows the powerful use of colors to enhance form
and add vitality. A similar attempt to create dynamic design is seen in the calculatorWM-30
of Sharp Co. (Figure 5b) that intentionally uses contrasting colors. The transparent watch by
Swatch (Figure 5d) exposes its mechanism, revealing function through form, simultaneously
exhibiting modernist and post-modernist propensities. When the color used is suitable for
the product, it not only provides emotional stimulus, but also imparts a sense of high quality.
Toys and human-friendly products often owe much to the assistance of color. The portable
computer, eMate (Figure 5c) of Apple Computer was designed for schoolchildren. It is
available in candy-colors and has child-friendly accessories that separate it from hard-edged
business tools (Morrison, 1999).
a. Mazio Rusconi & Swami Anand, Life Mediation Chairs, Om and Hari by Kundalini, Italy,
1998
b. Calculator, WN-30 by Sharp Design center, Japan, 1987
c. Thomas Meyerhöffer, Portable Computer, Apple eMate by Apple Computer, USA, 1999
d. Watches by Swatch, Switzerland, 1986
Figure 5: Sensibility and Color
Sensibility and Material
Material provides sensibility through vision and touch. Touch is the most analytic of senses
(Manzini, 1989). The materials used today by industrial designers exploit the transparency of
new synthetic plastic, emphasize the tactile quality of elastomers, and highlight the contrast
of different surfaces. New materials have possibilities to expand the aesthetic, functional,
and emotional qualities of a product.
The Good Grips utensil by Smart Design for Oxo Co. is a good example (Figure 6a) of how
material generates sensibility. As a utensil, it provides functional satisfaction and comfort
through the flexible and tactile quality of the material. The Handkerchief TV by Emilio
Ambasz (Figure 6b) endows the product with high quality through the combination of
artificial and natural materials. As a soft component, it is kinder to touch than an inflexible
shell, making high technology more familiar and comfortable. The application of natural
materials can be more effective and functional than artificial ones in industrial design. In
spite of the fact that most industrial objects continue to be manufactured in hard and bony
cases, Wind, a fan (Figure 6c), uses the composite of a natural rattan shell and a slender
chromium steel screen, marrying soft and hard, craft and industry, real and artificial. Wind
has unique merits and energies in its use of material which elements such as form, function,
and color cannot demonstrate.
Transparent shells were initially employed in products as a reaction to the traditional
conventions of the modernist point of view that surfaces should be black or white and
opaque. However, transparency is no longer dominated by such utopian mannerism.
According to Manzini, transparency possesses hygienic, functional, information-related,
aesthetic, and emotional aspects (Manzini, 1989: 165). As seen in both the ibook (Figure 6e)
of Apple Computer, and the speaker system, Clearball (Figure 6d) of Sasaki Glass,
transparency liberates objects by the exposure of internal apparatus. This overt language and
partial exposure simultaneously creates clarity and mystery.
a. Kitchen Utensil, Good Grips by Smart Design for Oxo, USA, 1993
b. Emilio Ambasz, Handkerchief TV by Brion Vega, Italy, 1993
c. Jasper Startup, Fan, Wind, UK, 2000
d. Ajin Togashi, Speaker System, Clearball by Sasaki Glass, Japan, 1992
e. Jonathan Ive, Laptop Computer, Apple iMac by Apple Computer, USA, 2000
Figure 6: Sensibility and Material
Even if some products have the same functions and shapes, the application of different
materials imparts differing styles and characteristics to them. As the examples show, material
provides tactile and visual feelings through the human senses and these feelings are
translated into sensibilities such as richness, satisfaction, comfort, etc.
Summary of Sensibility—Design in Each Basic Design Element
Elements
Descriptions
Function
Visible, simple.
Supports a mixture of manifestoes.
Possesses semiotic potential: satisfaction, convenience, amenity, comfort,
etc.
Form
Organic / geometric.
Expresses higher meanings.
Based on the feelings of consumers.
Displays characteristics (semantic expression): nostalgia, richness,
pleasantness, etc
Color
Mixture of monochrome and primary, complementary, transparency.
Stimulus to form / a part of the structure.
Possesses a sense of high quality: strong vitality, nostalgia, pleasantness,
etc.
Material
Blends natural and artificial.
Possesses tactile qualities (elastomers, new synthetic plastics).
Highlights the contrast or composite of different surfaces.
Generates satisfaction, richness, comfort, etc.
To sum up, in Sensibility—Design, vision, sound, and touch are used for enhanced
communication between users and products; they convey information and generate
sensibility. The basic design elements of form, function, color and material operate through
the senses and translate their unique characteristics into both physical comfort and
psychological satisfaction making objects more usable. Sensibility—Design empowers the
senses and imparts familiarity to technology.
Conclusion
“Sensibility Design” is not an ‘ism.’ It provides potential and possibilities for solutions to the
complex world that might make human life better, and it offers a rectified design direction
for the future using existing principles. That is to say, there is no reason why designers need
not consider the psychological aspects of consumption by taking their inspiration patterns of
use. In order to arrive at viable solutions to the design challenges of this post-industrial
world, a number of ‘isms’ and movements in design will need to be purified and filtered.
Sensibility—Design can be used as the means of reinforcing companies’ design and
marketing policies, as well as invigorating designers’ creativity. A resolution between the old
and the new, innovation and renovation, material and immaterial will be possible only if a
sympathetic approach is adopted. That approach is Sensibility—Design. Design must fulfill
its obligation to the demand of consumers, aesthetic values, and technology. It needs a
systematic and deep study of the ergonomic, psychological, economic, industrial, and
historical points of view. Form follows sensibility. Sensibility—Design is a strategy that
includes a mixture of high technology and innovative creativity.
In summary, “Sensibility Design” cannot be applied to any product by uniform
standardization and austere principles. It can be shown with eclecticism between design and
entrepreneurs, innovation between new function and feeling, and interactive communication
between design and consumers. Also, Sensibility—Design exists between a consumer-led
market and a technology-led market, between old and new, and between High-Tech and
High-Sense.
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